Page 19 of The Accomplice
‘We can handle this on our own.’
Bloch nodded, then turned away and headed back down the hall.
I guessed our meeting was over.
‘Bill, just let me take a look at—’ said the man in the chair.
‘No. None of you are getting involved in this. We’ll get her back. Just stay out of it and let us do our job,’ said Bill, then disappeared back through the door behind reception.
The man stood up, hoisted a faded brown leather satchel onto the crumpled shoulder of his suit, and approached me.
‘I was hoping they’d let me in. It would make things easier. I’ll just have to do this the hard way. So, do you want to find Delaney ?’
I nodded.
‘I’ve heard of you, Mr. Flynn. People say you’re a smart guy. And if you’re a friend of Delaney’s then I guess that makes you okay in my book. I think I know where we can start looking,’ he said.
‘Where ?’
‘You got a car ?’
‘Yeah, you want me to follow you ?’
‘No, I need a lift.’
‘Who are you ?’
He held out his hand. I took it, surprised by the strength of his grip.
‘I’m Gabriel Lake,’ he said. ‘I hunt serial killers.’
CHAPTER NINE
EDDIE
I’d taken a cab to the FBI office, knowing I’d meet Bloch there. She fired open the Jeep and I got into the front passenger seat, Lake in the back behind me.
‘Where are we going ?’ asked Bloch.
‘A lot of NYPD units got called to a hotel tonight,’ said Lake. ‘Bomb disposal and FBI too. The usual alert signals that go to law enforcement statewide when there’s a terrorist threat didn’t go out, so my guess is it was something else that needed SWAT, fifty cops, a bomb team and the feds. I think it was the Sandman. Grady’s Inn is like ten minutes from here.’
Plugging her phone into a jack, Bloch then began searching for the address on her navigation system.
‘I know the hotel,’ I said. ‘I’ve been there before.’
Two cop cars were parked in the lot of Grady’s Inn, along with two other vehicles. I hadn’t been back to the hotel since that night I’d met Joshua Kane, a killer who’d worked his way onto a jury in one of my cases. The building had fallen into further decay since then. The roof had bowed deeper, more paint had flecked from the walls and window frames and the grounds surrounding the place were heavily neglected, the grass and weeds standing four feet tall.
Bloch brought the Jeep to a stop in the small lot, then got out and walked over to the police cars parked across the entrance to the hotel.
‘You want to go with her ?’ I asked.
‘Nah,’ said Lake, ‘I’m not too popular with law enforcement.’
‘Me either. So, you track serial killers for a living ?’
‘I used to.’
‘Is that how you know Delaney ?’
